


You're 100% cotton and I'm polyester

by TheJediAreGay



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec is trying, Angst, M/M, Magnus is hurt, mentions of torture, post 2x12
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-11-14 18:47:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11214036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheJediAreGay/pseuds/TheJediAreGay
Summary: The first thing Magnus does when Alec leaves his apartment is take off all his clothes.~~Or Magnus reflects on what happened to him and where he and Alec stand now





	You're 100% cotton and I'm polyester

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really not sure if Valentine changed his clothes while he was in Magnus's body because I didn't pay attention but I'm going with that because it makes things so much better.

The first thing Magnus does when Alec leaves his apartment is take off his clothes, which all go directly into the sink. He can't stand the thought of wearing the same clothing Valentine wore while he was hitching a ride in Magnus's body. It's not the same clothing he was wearing when Azazel switched their bodies, either. Which means Valentine "Kill All Downworlders" Morgenstern invaded Magnus's room, looked through his closest, and somehow managed to throw together a decent outfit from Magnus's rather... flamboyant selection.

Magnus briefly wonders if he should go gather up the rest of his wardrobe and throw them into the sink as well, just on the off chance that Valentine's hands brushed up against them while he was selecting an outfit, but he quickly vetoes the idea. He doesn't want to catch his entire loft on fire. He'll burn them one by one if he has to.

The second thing Magnus does is ignore a call from Alec.

The third thing Magnus does is search for a set of matches. He rummages under his sink and through his towel drawer. He goes through all his cabinets and looks under the gaudy mug he bought himself last Christmas that says "BI BI BI" with a picture of Justin Timberlake on it (it was on sale). He even looks through the liquor cabinet, even though he's fairly sure he's seen every crevice of it. He searches the entire kitchen and still finds nothing nothing.

It's been decades since the last time he can remember relying on anything other than his magic to light a fire. He would never let himself get overexerted like this and run so low on his magic supply. At least, not until he met Alec and became the Institute's pet warlock.

The thought makes him clench his fists as an anger he hasn't felt in a long time courses through him. How many times has he run the river dry on his own magic doing a favor at Alec's behest? When has he ever been compensated the way he would demand if it was for anyone else? When did he become so entangled in the lives of the people he always vowed to stay away from? He can almost hear Ragnor giving a long suffering sigh next to him.

_All Shadowhunters do is take._

The fourth thing Magnus does is grab the clothes and fling them onto the stove he barely uses before turning it on to the highest setting. The shirt catches fire first. It's not too much of a waste, he supposes. He has at least ten more just like it. Black is slimming, after all. The pants, however, were a favorite of his. He wore them only a few days beforehand. In retrospect, he should have checked the pockets before burning them, but whatever was inside them were too close to Valentine for comfort. He'd rather burn all his credit cards than touch what that Shadowhunter scum has touched.

Magnus idly wonders what Valentine could have been carrying with him while in his body. He most likely just transferred the possessions Magnus was carrying around beforehand into the pockets of the pants he put on afterwards. Valentine isn't stupid, but he knows little about magic. His hatred for warlocks is mostly fueled by his ignorance. For all he knew, the omamori charm Magnus carries around every day was some sort of totem needed to cast spells. If he wanted to convince everyone he really was the High Warlock of Brooklyn, he couldn't take any chances.

_The omamori._

The only present Magnus has gotten in centuries. And it's currently being devoured by flames.

The fifth thing Magnus does is ignore another call from Alec in order to rip his charred pants off the stove.

"Fuck, fuck, _fuck_!" he shouts. The fire that's still crawling up one of the pant legs singes his finger tips. His rings only make it worse. The metal heats up and makes it feel as if his hand is being held over a fire. He slams the pants down into the sink as quickly as possible and turns on the cold water, hissing in pain.

His hand can wait.

Once the pants are properly soaked, he reaches into the bulgy right pocket. The smell of the charred polyester makes him gag. Not for the first time today, he has to choke back vomit.

To his relief, he pulls out the omamori completely intact. A few more minutes and his good luck charm would have been incinerated. He runs his fingers over the smooth surface and remembers the night Alec gave it to him.

_"It's supposed to bring you good luck and protection,"_ Alec had told him. He had seemed so pleased just to see the look of amazement on Magnus's face. That was his Alexander; he never ceased to amaze him.

Just as quickly as they came, the good memories disappear and all Magnus can think about while looking down at the omamori is being trapped inside a glass cell, weakened by the constant torture being inflicted on a body that wasn't even his own. The agony rune hurt more than anything he can remember experiencing in over three centuries on this earth. Things he spent years, decades, _centuries_ trying to forget were all relived in the span of minutes.

And all he wanted was for his own goddamn _boyfriend_ to believe him.

_"You gave me that omamori charm,"_ Magnus had told him, out of breath from being shoved up against the hard stone wall. _"That I carry with me every day."_

Alec had glared at him with hatred in his normally kind hazel eyes and shouted at him to stop talking. He didn't believe him. Or, at least, Magnus hopes he didn't believe him. Because if Alec prepped him for his execution while having even a shred of doubt in his mind...

Magnus isn't sure he would be able to take that.

The sight of the omamori charm in his hand suddenly makes his stomach turn over in disgust. He itches to toss it back into the fire and never have to look at it again. The charm doesn't serve its purpose anymore. It used to make him think about pool games and late nights on the balcony and stolen kisses in the Institute as a silent "fuck you" to Maryse Lightwood. Now all he can think of when he looks at it is Alec's arm pressed up against his neck, Alec's hands placing a gag in his mouth, Alec walking away while Magnus begged him to come back.

He thinks about how he thought Alec was different from the rest of them, but now he's not sure who his boyfriend really is.

Still, Magnus can't bring himself to burn the omamori. It meant so much to him at one point. Not a day went by when he didn't carry it around. He doesn't want to see it, but he doesn't want to destroy it.

The sixth thing Magnus does is hide the omamori under the cushion of Alec's favorite chair because he knows he won't be sitting in it anytime soon.

Finally, he can throw the pants back into the fire. His shirt and boxers are nothing more than ashes by now, while his shoes are still in that weird half-liquid-half-solid state. He must have been staring at the omamori for far longer than he thought.

Magnus knows it won't stop here. He still isn't comfortable in his own home. His entire apartment feels tainted. He has no idea what Valentine touched while he was here, and what's worse, he has no way of knowing. He wants to burn the whole place until it's nothing but ashes. He wants to bunk with Catarina for the next 100 years or so. He wants to cry. None of those things are options right now.

Magnus's phone vibrates on the counter yet again. He mutters curses in an archaic version of Malay and grabs it to check who would dare disturb the High Warlock of Brooklyn when he's busy having a mental breakdown. Of course, he knows before he even looks at the screen. Alec's name pops up, followed by a series of emojis that include the eggplant and water droplets.

Magnus wonders if changing his name to "Alexander Lightwood" in his phone would be a break up by 21st century standards.

_"You'd blow up the very ground you stand on in order to make things right,"_ he had told Alec once. This was no different. The naïve boy was trying to make things right in his own idiotic Shadowhunter way. Normally, Magnus would be appreciative. But all he feels now is anger at his boyfriend, and fear that the feeling will never go away. He's afraid Alec will blow up the ground they stand on together and force Magnus to find his own.

He's afraid things can never be right.

The last thing Magnus does is throw his phone into the fire.


End file.
